Shipping Freight

[iponnet22]

Hey Forum,

So I sell used car parts on ebay and am trying to broaden my market by offering freight shipping for larger items like Bumpers, sub-frames etc  but am having a hard time finding reasonable freight shipping rates. 

I see others in my niche offering flat rate freight shipping for $250-$350 for same parts but lowest quotes I can get are in the $500 range.  I know fedex freight has $350 flat rate boxes which I can use for engines and transmissions but things like bumper covers and doors wont fit in those.  

I got the lowest quotes in the $500 range from central transport and freight center.  I know YRC used to be the go to when it came for freight shipping for ebay but they are going out of business I believe.  

Anyways any help appreciate it, 

Cheers

[dbfolks166mt]

     You may want to look at UPS. Packages can be up to 150 pounds and up to 165 inches in length and girth combined with a maximum length of 108". The could probably handle bumpers and other larger parts but not sub-frames. I have been in a UPS store and seen people shipping quarter panels. It's also done on a calculated basis. I ran a test scenario through Pirate ship for a 10" x 10" x 100" package weighing 60 pounds shipping from VA to CA through Pirate Ship and got the following. 

[bashort]

some things are just not feasible to ship like lower value bulky items.

It is risky because it is not a ebay integrated shipper and it can affect you shipping metrics and you will get no item not received protection  but I have used fastenal a few times, they are usually a lot lower priced than anyone else but they just ship store to store.

Again this is risky but it works good for someone who you have dealt with before.

[turtles-trading-post]

Listen to the recent eBay For Business podcast about shipping freight. You may find some information. You may be able to contact that seller to share info 

[timelessauto]

Metal bumpers, seats, large car parts, sheet metal and mostly any bulky "oversized" parts are hard to ship safely with any carrier.  We used to use Greyhound bus lines and they could get some crazy shaped items to most any major city without having to "box" them  ( ever price how much to appropriately box and pad an odd shape oversized bulky item in a squareish box?) .  They were reasonably priced with insurance, but does require the buyer to pick up at a terminal etc.  We stopped doing it years ago after most everything got damaged ( you get to refund your buyer and eat all the cost) or lost ( you get to refund your buyer) and their claims process was terrible. We never got any payout on anything damaged and would get payout for lost items but they had 6 months ( yes 6 months) to find the item before they payout and you get to baby it the whole time. Not sure if its still available or not but might be worth looking into for items like subframes and stuff that does not get  "damaged"  like sheet metal would. Metal bumpers can go fedex/ups if you box good but be exact on the measurements and nothing "sticking out" of the box like bumper tips as that is a recipe for issues and reclassification by the carriers ( additional costs to you down the road).  We moved to a local pickup process on our bulky items.  We sell it and let the buyer arrange pickup or we take to a local ship and pack company and have the buyer deal with them for the packing and or shipping preferences they prefer.  You will lose some sales but if you have uncommon parts we have found the buyers love the ability to get the part and in a manner they  prefer ( for example they can get the item crated and shipped overseas which we would no do). You can also check with a local pack/ship company to pack and ship on your behalf  and pass those costs to the customer. You can then have the pack company on the hook for any damage/loss which might be easier to get from the packer  than you can from a carrier.

[lakefor94]

@iponnet22 

Freight out of California won't be cheap. I would be contacting the big carriers until you get a sales person who will give you a reasonable rate on shipping pallets.

Your engines and trannys won't be shipping in any boxes. Pallet ship for sure. 

Also realize you are on the hook for the shipping charges, both ways, if any buyer opens a Item Not As Described return case, if you want the item back before refunding. 

I just list the item as freight (not flat rate) and the system makes the buyer contact me before they can pay.

Get the address. Look it up on Google Instant Streetview.

I then discern if they have a dock that will accommodate an 18 wheeler?

Or is this a residential delivery that will require a box truck, liftgate and pallet jack?

I then figure out the cost and change the listing to Flat Rate Freight and enter the cost. The system then allows the buyer to pay for the item.